An Attendant to the Queen
by Booksrgood4u
Summary: A story about Chloe, the Queen's newest attendant.


**Title: **An Attendant to the Queen  
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Author:** booksrgood4u  
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Genre: **Uhhh…?**  
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**Word Count: **1800 and something

**Rating: **G**  
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**Summary: **This is a little fic about an attendant named Chloe, who talks to much and is clumsy, inspired by my dog, also named Chloe, who barks too much and is clumsy  
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Author's Notes: **Many thanks to 1221bookworm, my sister and beta. Dedicated to, you guessed it, Chloe!

"An attendant to the queen," her father had said. That had been less than a week ago.

Less than a week ago, she had been the relatively unimportant daughter of a relatively unimportant baron in a forgotten corner of Attolia.

Less than a week ago, her life had been peaceful and pleasantly predictable. Until the day, less than a week ago, when the royal messenger had ridden to her father's villa with a message from the queen herself. "You will be an attendant to the queen," her father said, and her life had been turned upside down.

Today, less than a week later, Chloe bounced down the cobbled streets of the capitol city, heading toward the palace. The wheels of the coach, clattering against the cobble stones, seemed to echo her father's words:

_An attendant to the queen  
An attendant to the queen  
To the queen  
The queen  
The queen_

Chloe wondered what the queen was like. People said that she was ruthless, cold, and cruel. That might be a fine way to rule a country, but Chloe hoped she didn't rule her attendants the same way.

Chloe's thoughts of the queen were brought to an abrupt halt as the coach came in view of the palace. Gasping, Chloe leaned out the window of the coach to take in all she could of the glittering jewel that was the palace of the queen of Attolia. The towers shimmered in the sunlight and the afternoon heat, and the windows – real glass windows – winked at her as they reflected the sun. There were more people standing in the courtyard than in her father's entire barony, and most of them, Chloe realized too late, were staring at her. They were all whispering, no doubt that this girl, this country bumpkin, was the queen's newest attendant. Chloe pulled her head and shoulders back inside and stared fixedly at the opposite wall of the coach until the driver hopped off the box and opened the door. Gathering the folds of her dress, new for the occasion, Chloe concentrated on stepping out of the coach gracefully. If she didn't quite achieve grace, Chloe at the very least managed to say upright on her stiff legs. She was aided in this endeavor by a gray-haired, older woman, who took her arm gently as she stepped down. "You must be Chloe," the woman said, smiling kindly.

"Yes, Ma'am," Chloe answered promptly.

"My name is Phresine. I am Her Majesty's senior attendant." The kindly woman's gentle, soft spoken manner did not seem to suggest she served a tyrannical mistress, and some of Chloe's apprehensions about the queen eased. The queen's senior attendant led Chloe through a maze of corridors and up countless stairs, and finally through one of the doors. Chloe was glad to have reached their destination at last, only to find that the door opened on another hallway with yet more rooms branching of it. "These are Her Majesty's apartments." Phresine explained, looking over her shoulder to address Chloe. Chloe gaped at the opulence around her. "These are the rooms you'll be sleeping in," Phresine opened a small door that almost disappeared into the paneling. Chloe pulled her gaze away from the tall ceilings to look into the room beyond the door, expecting yet more opulence to meet her eyes. Chloe couldn't suppress a gasp at the dark, austere room she was expected to sleep in

"It looks like a dungeon," she blurted, then clapped a hand to her mouth.

"You'll get used to it, dear." Phresine smiled kindly and laid a hand on Chloe's arm. "Why don't you get yourself settled. Her majesty is holding court just now, but she will be returning shortly."

Chloe unpacked her things, finding a letter from her mother tucked into the folds of one of her dresses, reminding her that she was loved, to behave, and above all to watch that runaway mouth of hers. Chloe tucked the letter away again, resolving not to let her mouth get ahead of her, especially not in front of the queen.

"You must be the new attendant," a voice behind Chloe said. Chloe gasped and spun around, afraid to see the queen, but to her relief, she saw only a girl a bit older than herself dressed in the simple garb of the queen's attendants.  
"I didn't mean to startle you," the girl smiled in apology. "My name is Iolanthe, Phresine sent me to help you get settled."

"I'm Chloe," Chloe said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"A pleasure. You look a little shaken, is everything alright?" Iolanthe asked sitting down on the cot next to Chloe's.

"Oh, I'm alright," Chloe smiled. Iolanthe seemed like a nice girl. "I thought you were the queen," she admitting blushing. Iolanthe laughed.

"Trust me, once you meet Her Majesty, you'll find she's quite unmistakable." There was an expression of fond loyalty in Iolanthe's voice that emboldened Chloe to ask in a very quiet voice, "What is she like?"

"What is the queen like?" Iolanthe echoed thoughtfully.

Chloe rushed on. "How does she treat her attendants?"

"She is unfailingly polite to her women," Iolanthe began, "As for what she is like, well," Iolanthe hesitated, "it's hard to say."

Chloe bit her lip, unsure as to what that meant.

"She keeps everyone at a distance; one never knows her true feelings or thoughts. But she is My Queen, and I am honored to serve her." Chloe was not reassured by Iolanthe's assessment.

"Come on," Iolanthe stood up briskly, "You'll need a change of clothes before you meet the queen."

Iolanthe fetched Chloe a simple gray dress that was the uniform of the queen's attendants. Chloe had to bite her tongue to keep from saying that she thought the dress was boring and ugly, but it must have been clear by the look on her face, because Iolanthe laughed and said "Kind of drab, isn't it? Don't worry, you'll get used to it." She pushed Chloe into a chair and twisted her hair efficiently into a hairnet.

"There," Iolanthe said, tucking a stray wisp of hair back in to the hairnet, "You're ready to meet the –"

Iolanthe's sentence was abruptly ended by the slamming of a door somewhere deep inside the labyrinth of the queen's apartments. The sound echoed down the corridors, intruding on the silence that permeated the rooms. Chloe and Iolanthe stared at each other in shock for a moment, both jumping when Phresine's voice interrupted the stunned silence.

"I'm afraid Her Majesty is indisposed to meet with you at present," she addressed Chloe. "I'm sure she will be pleased to meet you once she is feeling-" Here Phresine paused, searching for words. "More herself" she finally settled on.

"Yes, of course," Chloe said breathlessly. If that door had been slammed by the queen herself, Chloe was glad not to be meeting her immediately.

Within a few minutes of the queen's arrival, the attendant's rooms were flooded by others of the queen's attendants who had been relieved of their duties for the day. They brought with them the days gossip, mostly circling around the Thief of Eddis, who, Chloe learned was ostensibly the reason for the queen's sudden fit of temper. It seemed that her master of spies had reported that Eugenides had been haunting the palace, but neither his elite spies nor the members of the Queen's Guard had been able to catch him.

"I despise that Eddisian!" One of the other attendants declared venomously, and her sentiment was echoed by the rest of the attendants. "He has no right to torture Her Majesty so. If his queen were half the queen that ours is, she would have stopped this nonsense long ago."  
"I don't think she cares if he tortures our queen" A second attendant said. Iolanthe had introduced them all as they had come in, but their names were all frightfully similar and Chloe was having trouble keeping them straight.

"They say the he was in Her Majesty's apartments just last night," a third attendant added.

"He'd better hope that I don't ever catch him creeping about some night," another of the younger attendants said vehemently, "Because if I did I would…" she paused, striving to find a punishment sufficiently dreadful for an enemy of the queen.

"Ladies," Phresine's voice was quiet but firm. "Leave the Thief of Eddis to the queen's guard. It is their job to protect her, and they do it well." She looked at each of the queen's women. "As her attendants, we protect her in a way that even her best guardsmen can't. We strive to protect what peace and serenity she has when she is with us. Even the Thief of Eddis cannot trespass on that peace unless we allow it." All the girls looked abashed at Phresine's words. Seeing that her point had been well and truly made, she sent out the next shift of attendants to wait by the queen's door in case she should need them.

The queen did not meet Chloe that afternoon, nor that evening, calling her attendants in with just enough time to dress and prepare for dinner. Chloe went to sleep in her new bed with a strange mix of anticipation and dread for the next day. The feeling would have kept her awake, but the long hours of traveling that morning quickly caught up with her and she drifted off to sleep.  
Iolanthe shook Chloe awake the next morning. "Wake up and dress quickly," she whispered, her voice breaking through Chloe's dreams of home. "Her majesty will meet you before breakfast." Chloe's eyes snapped open and she nearly fell out of bed in a tangle of blankets in her haste. She snatched up her drab gray dress and tossed it over her head with a grimace, not even noticing the small square of paper that fluttered silently to the floor. No sooner than her dress was settled, Iolanthe was pushing Chloe back to sit on the bed so she could twist her hair into the hairnet. When she was finished, Chloe bent over to lace the plain, gray slippers that came with her uniform. She was about to sit up when she noticed the slip of paper lying on the floor. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder before picking it up and unfolding the note and reading:

To Her Majesty's newest attendant,

May you be blessed in your endeavors as you begin your service to Her Majesty.

The note was signed 'Eugenides' with a great deal more flourishes than were strictly necessary. Chloe's hand holding the note trembled with anger and indignation.  
"Are you ready, Chloe?" Iolanthe was calling from the door, and Chloe's head shot up. "The queen is ready to meet you," she said, a hint of urgency and warning in her voice. Chloe opened her mouth to tell Iolanthe of the Thief of Eddis' note, but Phresine's words came rushing back to her and she abruptly changed her mind.

"Coming," she answered.  
Chloe slipped the note into the pocket of her dress and followed Iolanthe out the door to meet Her Queen.

Thank you for reading to the end, please leave a comment and let me know what you think….I thrive on comments!

Here's a picture of my dog, Chloe, who was the inspiration for this fic. (She's part lab, part marshmallow)


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